Bayelsa State Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja has nullified the election of Duoye Diri as governor of the State.
The nullification comes two days after a Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja upheld the election of Senator Duoye Diri as Bayelsa State Governor in November 19 poll.
A three-man panel held that the petition filed against Diri’s victory by Owei Woniwei of the Alliance for Democracy is incompetent and lacks merit.
Read Also: Tribunal Upholds Election Of Duoye Diri As Bayelsa Governor
The new verdict however follows the petition by the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP) challenging the victory of Governor Diri in the November 19 governorship election.
ANDP is claiming that the party was unlawfully excluded from the election.
However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in its argument said that the party’s Deputy Governorship candidate was 34-year-old as at the time of nomination and therefore did not qualify to contest the election.
ANDP told Justice Yunusa Musa who is delivering the lead judgment that its initial Deputy Governorship Candidate, David Esinkuma was duly substituted by the Party within the allowed time frame, following the notification from INEC that he is under-age.
Justice Musa in his response said that INEC has no power to disqualify any candidate and insists that the petition of the ANDP stands.
He also added that only a court has the power to disqualify any candidate for any election and that the petition was filed within the 21 days which is the stipulated time for petitions to be filed.
Justice Musa describes the action of INEC to exclude the ANDP from the Bayelsa Governorship Election as illegality.
The lead judgment nullified the election of Governor Douye Diri and ordered to conduct a fresh election in Bayelsa state within the next 90 days to include the ANDP in the election.
